


and indeed there will be time

by swimprince (klancerista)



Category: Free!
Genre: ;), Coitus, Inspired by Poetry, Light Angst, M/M, Mermaid references, Post-Coitus, also e.e. cummings can you tell, frick frack in the bath, kinda angsty, nice, t.s. eliot is my life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 21:38:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6346378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klancerista/pseuds/swimprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in which haruka is singing in the bath, he says he isn't. makoto swears that he's a siren... he's spellbound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and indeed there will be time

**_i have heard the mermaids singing, each to each._ **

haruka was in the tub, cleaning, washing, rubbing himself while makoto was still in bed. the latter was tired as eyelashes dared to fall over blazing green.

_let us go then, you and I,  
when the evening is spread out against the sky_

he was mid-breath when he heard it. the voice in the bathroom. it was sweet and soft and lingering as it floated down the walls while the steam was rising up. makoto was so awake when he stood out of bed, he didn’t care that he was still naked, he didn’t care that he knocked the used tissues to the floor in his clumsiness. he didn’t even care that the window was open and it was possible that the neighbors could see him stark naked in the room he and haruka shared.

he didn’t care.

he didn’t care.

_to lead you to an overwhelming question…  
oh, do not ask, “What is it?”_

haruka was startled when makoto entered the bathroom, not realizing he left the door open. his soft, perfect lips came together slowly around the words he was speaking, _singing_.

“makoto…” was all he said as six feet and three inches—he’d grown again—walked toward the bathtub in reverence.

“you were singing” was all he could think to say.

“no i wasn’t”

“can i come in?”

“what?...no”

as the water threatened to slush over the sides of the extra full tub, makoto settled behind tinyskinny haruka and grabbed his waist.

“you were singing” he says again. haruka huffed indignantly as the flush deepened on his body while he leaned into the one behind him.

“i already told you i wasn’t”

makoto doesn’t try to get him to admit it. he just wanted to hear more. he wanted haruka more.

they were silent for a while; makoto holding him as if he’d float away. haruka resumed washing his hair. they were comfortably silent. makoto simply watched his love bathe. haruka was absolutely enchanting.

since childhood, haruka was always very beautiful and handsome. makoto was always awkward despite his outer masculinity. haruka was ethereal and emotionally distant, unless he really loved someone. when he really loved someone, he would eat them whole.

makoto is still the only one that he loves.

it’s just sometimes makoto gets scared and has doubts. it doesn’t help that haruka has trouble expressing himself through words.

_“do i dare? do i dare ask him if he loves me… if he wants to do it… again?”_

almost as if he read his mind haruka adjusted in the tub to face makoto; he just stared straight into his eyes and makoto was all but breathless. his eyes were always a deep blue, but it felt like, in that moment, they were sparkling with the light of the moon over a rippling sea.

“and indeed there will be time, to wonder, ‘do i dare?’ and, ‘do i dare?’”

he was leaning closer and closer, breath floating into makoto’s face and lungs.

“ _haru—_ ”

lips meet here. they cling together desperately. makoto’s eyelids crash closed like a broken wave. haruka’s eyes mimic his lips in that they were trying sosohard to suck the life out of makoto so as to fill him instead with this feeling of overwhelming want. he was attempting to use his body instead of his words to show makoto how he truly felt.

and suddenly, it stopped. ripped away.

“hhh… haruka.”

the water began to feel cool as skin heated up more and more.

wordlessly, haruka climbed into makoto’s lap and slowlyslowlyslowly connected the two of them. he thought of a few hours ago when they were in a similar situation. _déjà vu_. makoto nearly screamed.

 _among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,_  
_would it have been worthwhile,_  
_to have bitten off the matter with a smile,_  
_to have squeezed the universe into a ball_

the only music in the room was the sloshing of water and the haunting lyrics and chants haruka emitted when he got that one _s p o t_.

makoto just watched as their bodies collided over and over, his ragged pants serving as a beat to follow haruka’s bewitching rhythm.

haruka’s eyes dripped shut this time. the sun was falling down outside. makoto was looking up at haruka coming to pieces in his lap, his skin and hair glistening… makoto could almost see scales on his face and shoulders. makoto held onto his hips, squeezing, silently begging for him to never leave.

“uuuuhh… makoto… i want…”

“ _harukaharukaharuka…!_ ”

“i _can’t_!”

they exploded together into a million combined, flaming white stars.

haruka fell against makoto’s chest and sighed as if he had just finished a huge meal.

 _after the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,_  
_after the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—_  
_and this, and so much more?—_  
_it is impossible to say just what I mean!_

“haruka, I love you”

haruka said nothing in response. his eyes fluttered shut and makoto felt the ghostly tickle of his longlong eyelashes sweeping his bicep. he squeezed him closer. sometimes, even makoto had trouble reading the emotions of his childhood love.

would he ever leave him?

does he really love him the same?

his chest swells with doubt.

haruka, who always knew everything, finally spoke.

“makoto… there will never be anyone else.” that eased his lover only an ounce. makoto needed so much more. he needed the undeniable proof of hearing it.

“i love you… i love you…haru, please just say it back. just once. please. i have to hear you say it.”

makoto felt as if he was drowning, waiting for a reply. it was an eternity before he heard haruka speak next. in what makoto could swear was a siren song.

“makoto… i…”

_i shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach._

“makoto i…”

_i have heard the mermaids singing, each to each._

“i _need_ you… i”

_i do not think that they will sing to me._

“i love you… i need your light.”

**_i do not think that they will sing to me._ **

**Author's Note:**

> don't worry haruka really loves him back ;_; makoto just feels insecure...  
> but yeah i just really love poetry so i'm not the best at prose? i really hope you've enjoyed. i took a lot(all) of italicized lines and inspiration from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by eliot. it's my favorite eliot poem. maybe next time i'll pick an e.e. cummings...!


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